A recent
The survey of 9,000 American adults between March and June also found that higher-income adults, earning more than 200% of the median, are more likely to say trust is important (68%) compared to those with lower incomes (55%).
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Trust is hard won, and easily lost — which makes it such a precious commodity when clients choose an advisor to work with.
'Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care'
Ashley Foster, a financial planner with
It didn't quite work out that way.
It wasn't until a mentor of Foster shared an apocryphal quote that his perspective changed.
"Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care," goes the saying, often attributed to President Theodore Roosevelt.
Foster said clients in the niche he works with, millennial and Gen Z veterinarians, "need compassion more than they need technical knowledge." (Foster's wife is also a veterinarian.)
"Their career is physically and emotionally demanding," he said. "I build that trust early on by letting them know I understand what they are going through. There is no shame when it comes to their personal finances. My firm is a safe space to discuss their dreams, aspirations and challenges."
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Kelly Renner, a financial planner with
"Being very clear on expectations and doing what I say I am going to do is how I continue to build trust throughout the relationship," she said. "I am clear on what I expect from the client as well. I educate them and meet them where they are. This is their financial journey and I am honored to be a part of it."
Ashley Folkes, a financial planner with
'His eyes didn't match his smile'
Tom Balcom, CFP and founder of
"If [any] of those is not present, you should not work with [that] advisor," he said. "My clients ... know that I have 'skin in the game' and I am investing my family's wealth alongside their wealth. There's no doubt in their mind that I am doing what is in their best interest and that addresses any trust concerns and issues."
Ed Snyder, co-founder of
"You can't manufacture trust," he said. "It's a gut feeling someone has. It's best to just be yourself. If you're a trustworthy person, clients will sense that. I think if you're trying to do particular things to get clients to trust you it would be disingenuous, and they're going to sense that, too. I'm just myself, and I give the best advice I can and let the chips fall where they may."
Steven Calio, chief executive officer and co-founder of
"In any service industry I think you'll find the top performers have high empathy," he said. "This is something that can't be faked. A client of mine who had initially interviewed other advisors before hiring me said, 'His eyes didn't match his smile,' about one of the other advisors."
Building trust through transparency
The YouGov survey also found that cost of services, qualifications and expertise, and reputation are crucial, valued by 48% and 46% of Americans, respectively, who are looking for advisors.
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Patrick J. Monaghan IV, partner and director of wealth management at
"Honesty is imperative and can take the form of taking responsibility when mistakes happen, ideally proactively when possible," he said. "Anything you can do to help the client see that you genuinely care about them and their families and that you want it to be a partnership or even a friendship helps with trust. Actions or words that suggest you put money or other self-serving interests ahead of the client erode that trust."
Trust is "the distance between that which is known and that which is unknown," according to Barry D. Flagg, managing director of
"The easiest and fastest way to build trust is to make that distance between known and unknown as small as possible," he said.
Nick Rygiel, owner of
"By providing investment research and reference information, clients can gain awareness and self-educate based on their interest and motivation, making informed decisions before signing on," he said.
The way that Josh Radman, principal and owner of
"There are never any surprises and never any conflicts of interest or concerns that I'm pushing them to move or keep more assets under my management," he said. "The simplicity of the fixed fee structure has helped to generate a lot of trust between me and my clients."
Other advisors have found similar success building trust while moving away from the traditional AUM fee model. Tipiwa Walker, founder of
"They do not want to be 'sold to,' and to them, being fee-only signals freedom from bias," she said.
'No one wants to wonder if they've been forgotten'
For some advisors, trust can be a function of excellent communication. Cindy Sforza, president of
"Many advisors say what they do, and then they don't follow through on actually doing it," she said. "Simply returning a phone call or email same-day, or first thing in the morning if the request came in late the day before, goes such a long way for clients to know that their advisor cares about them. Even if you don't have the answer to their question right away, just acknowledging that you see it and that you're working on it is huge for adding to the trust factor. No one wants to wonder if they've been forgotten."
Scott S. Van Den Berg, president of
"It is important for people to see your eyes and facial expressions during the conversation," he said. Meeting in-person, at least annually, further cements the bond, said Van Den Berg.
"Nothing beats shaking hands and spending a few hours per year in-person," he said.
